Sin & Trespass Offering
Sin Offering : Lev. 4 Unlike the previous offerings we have discussed there are various degrees within this sacrifice. The material offered was determined by the nature of the offense and the rank of the individual for unintentional sins. Different offerings were made depending on whether the sacrifice was for a priest, a leader, a common person, or even the congregation as a whole. A young bullock was offered for a sin of the whole congregation (Lev. 4:13), for a sin of the high priest (Lev. 4:3), for the high priest on the Day of Atonement (Lev. 16:3), and for the consecration of priests and Levites to their offices (Exo. 29:10,14,35; Num. 8:8). A she-goat was offered for a sin by one of the common people (Lev. 4:28,32; 5:6). This offering could be combined with others such as a whole burnt offering or peace offering, but if the sin offering was needed it had to be the first offered. Sin had to be dealt with before anything else. No doubt this was designed to make the people awa...